Chapter 10: What do you mean you discovered it? This isn't your property

"Are you from Dunhuang?" Ye Cheng suddenly asked.

"Huh? Dunhuang? Bro, I'm from our village, you know that." Xiao Hu looked utterly bewildered.

"Not from Dunhuang, where did all those murals come from? Hurry up and work."

Xiao Hu took a while to realize, then said, "Bro, why are you beating around the bush insulting people? Before you just insulted directly."

"Insulting directly is so uncultured."

"So you're just a high school graduate, never went to college, what culture do you have?" Xiao Hu muttered unhappily.

"You talk too much, hurry up and dig—this whole area has footprints; dig along them and you'll surely find something."

Ye Cheng pointed at this tidal flat; there really aren't few footprints, they're all crooked and twisted.

Digging sea squirts is also hard labor; after Ye Cheng dug a dozen or so, he was exhausted, having to look, dig, and squat.

Yesterday's thigh soreness hasn't faded, and today we're squatting like this again—this is exhausting.

"Bro, look what I dug up!" Xiao Hu suddenly exclaimed in delight.

Ye Cheng looked over; it was something similar to a sea squirt, but thinner.

This is a sand worm, somewhat like a sea squirt, but sand worms are really thin and long like earthworms, not as thick as sea squirts, and their color is paler.

Sand worms can be prepared in many ways—sand worm porridge, fried with eggs, stewed tofu, blanched—considered a delicacy of coastal people.

Moreover, sand worms aren't cheap, but due to increased farming in recent years, their price has dropped.

"Not bad, not bad, keep going." Ye Cheng encouraged.

He estimated that, with Xiao Hu following him, he himself had dug a dozen or so sea squirts, while Xiao Hu had gotten one sand worm; it's unclear whether this has anything to do with his system.

Never mind, let's keep digging.

There are actually quite a few catches on this tidal flat; Ye Cheng followed a line of footprints and unexpectedly discovered a small patch densely packed with holes.

Ye Cheng was delighted; if all those holes had something, the harvest would definitely be good.

Without further ado, Ye Cheng half-squatted on the ground and started digging; unexpectedly, the first hole got stuck—inside it wasn't clear whether it was a sea squirt or sand worm, but it held on firmly; Ye Cheng pulled hard twice and it still wouldn't come out.

"Damn, did it grow teeth or something."

Ye Cheng muttered a curse, then on the tidal flat he drew a line along the path, estimated the position, and thrust down a few times, digging to a depth of twenty centimeters.

It was already visible to the naked eye—another sea squirt; this guy tried to escape, but Ye Cheng grabbed him and pulled him out.

"Damn, it's so thick." Ye Cheng couldn't help exclaiming.

This guy is thicker than the first two combined.

"Brother, have you become a spirit?"

Ye Cheng tossed it into the bucket satisfied, then moved on to the next hole.

In this small area, Ye Cheng dug a total of twenty sea squirts and ten sand worms, managing to rack up fifty points.

The sun had risen, the morning chill had faded, and Ye Cheng was starting to feel hot.

He walked a few steps forward and unexpectedly discovered another string of small holes: "Xiao Hu, come dig over here with me; I've got more."

"Coming, bro." Xiao Hu sprang forward with a burst of energy.

"Wow, bro, how did you dig up so much?" Xiao Hu stared at Ye Cheng's bucket and shouted in surprise.

"Pfft, that's nothing; hurry up—this area definitely has plenty, let me see how much you've gotten."

Xiao Hu handed his bucket to Ye Cheng for a look; it was empty except for two lonely sand worms and a few mussels.

Ye Cheng estimated that this was normal foragings income; his own take was probably excessive.

"Alright, let's get to work; we'll talk later. You start over there, and we'll dig toward the middle together."

After dividing the work, they each began digging.

Ye Cheng's side had a yield of seventy to eighty percent, while Xiao Hu's side was less than twenty percent, making him sigh with frustration.

By the time they were almost done, Ye Cheng's bucket was already more than half full, packed tight with wriggling sea squirts and sand worms.

Fortunately he doesn't have trypophobia, or else seeing these would probably make him dizzy.

After about an hour of digging, three people approached—namely Huang Hai and his crew.

"Bro, Huang Hai and them are here." Xiao Hu warned, standing up and gripping his shovel tightly.

Ye Cheng also stood up, handed Xiao Hu a cigarette; they each lit it and stared at the three uninvited guests.

"What, you couldn't dig anything over there, so you came over here?" Xiao Hu spoke first, aggressively.

The three Huang Hai said nothing, walked over, glanced at the two buckets, and exclaimed, "Damn, you've dug up so many sea squirts and sand worms."

Duan Yong and Yuan Jiansheng also came over to look, and they couldn't help exclaiming, "So much!"

"Just good luck." Ye Cheng replied calmly.

Huang Hai looked at the churned, messy sand on the tidal flat and the strings of footprints left by crawling sea squirts, couldn't help nodding, "There's a lot here."

"This is what we discovered." Xiao Hu said, neck stiff, veins bulging.

"What do you mean 'you discovered it'? This isn't your family's property." Duan Yong retorted.

"Exactly, you think this is your contracted area, you little brat—keep yapping and I'll smack you." Yuan Jiansheng likewise raised his shovel rudely.

Ye Cheng's face darkened; he tossed his cigarette to the ground, stomped on it twice, then lifted his head to look at Huang Hai,

"What? You want to steal our turf? Our brothers' sea‑gathering shovels aren't for show."

Saying that, he swung his sea‑gathering shovel hard, kicking up a spray of sand.

Xiao Hu also rushed over, standing beside Ye Cheng, glaring at the three.

Two against three isn't hopeless.

Such things happen in the village from time to time—snatching water, land, housing plots—simple and brutal; whoever is fiercer gets the right.

Ye Cheng knew that if he backed down now, he'd be bullied to death later.

Seeing the two's ferocious demeanor, Huang Hai gave an embarrassed smile, waved his hand, and said, "We're all from the same village; no need for this—there's plenty to go around, let's dig together."

「We still have a while before we have to go to work, so just dig for half an hour; there's no need to keep fighting back and forth. 」

「Fine, the beach is huge; everyone can dig their own spot. If you cause trouble, I don't mind fighting it out—anyway, I don't have to go to work either. 」

「A Cheng, we're all on the same side—why fight? Let's do this: we'll dig here, you dig there, draw a line, and nobody crosses it, okay? 」 Huang Hai pointed at the ground.

Huang Hai's tone softened, and Ye Cheng, not wanting to make a fuss, silently drew a line on the ground with his shovel, saying, "Let this be the boundary."

「Fine, let this be the boundary. 」

Huang Hai stepped back and, with three others, began digging over there.

Xiao Hu was still unconvinced, "Brother, this is the place we discovered."